The Diablo IV thread

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skazz

skazz

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  • #1
    Game is live on 6/6/23:

    Ars has a clan up and running which you can join by finding and requesting to Ars Diaboli
    Throw a message in the chat if nobody noticed your request.


    1st Expansion Pack Vessel of Hatred announced on 10 June 2024 - releases on October 8 2024:
    diablo4.blizzard.com

    Vessel of Hatred - Diablo IV

    New Class. New Region. More Story. Endless Evil.
    diablo4.blizzard.com diablo4.blizzard.com

    Comes in 4 versions
    1717974126388.png

    The headline features are a new jungle-style zone, the spiritborn class, mercenaries, new skills for existing classes, endgame raids and more.

    Apparently cosmetics are doing great, given the absurd expansion pricing:
    • Game+expansion: $70
    • Expansion: $40
    • Deluxe edition: $60
    • Ultimate edition: $90
    The marketing trick is that every cosmetic on offer except the new Spiritborn class skin is usable immediately (and pets have just been added to the game to help pick up your gold and mats). This includes the first ever non-horse mount (a leopard) and cosmetic wings back trophy.

    Here are the full ultimate edition cosmetics if you are as silly as me and want to prepurchase:
    1717974411070.png

    And yes, those wings are only for ultimate edition crazies, but they look pretty good in game right now.


    Diablo IV base game/launch info:
    The release date has been confirmed as June 2023.

    Options:
    1674051629571.png

    <tidied up old info>
     
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    Delor

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  • #4
    Not super enthusiastic. Boycotting is a strong word but... waiting, at a minimum.

    I don't want anything to do with any of this post-purchase monetization stuff, especially not battle passes which are pretty much the worst of both worlds for me in that I pay money for the privilege of having to do a timed grind to unlock content. There's the whole company fostering and covering for sexual harassment and abuse thing. Then there's the fact that Blizzard, which used to be one of my most trusted companies in terms of releasing quality content I was willing to pay for, pretty much has released nothing good* in the past six years since Overwatch came out, released the awful F2P money sponge Diablo Immortal, and (to my tastes) pretty much broke both Overwatch's gameplay and Overwatch's monetization model since then. I just don't trust them at this point.

    Kind of disappointing because from Warcraft 2 in 1995 through Overwatch in 2016, Blizzard's output was damn near immaculate IMHO. D3's auction hall thing was a mess but they eventually recanted, and I didn't particularly care for LotV's LoL-chasing micro-emphasizing changes to the SC2 unit roster**, but... Blizzard had one hell of a run. I wish I still felt the way about them in 2023 that I did for most of my gaming career.

    *WoW expansions aside, but I didn't follow WoW into expansion territory. And I think the D2 remaster was supposed to be good, but that's not really new content.
    **And I say that as an LoL enthusiast, as well as someone who respected a lot of what HotS did even if ultimately I don't think the hero-vs-hero combat stood up compared to its inspiration.
     
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    Apotheoun

    Apotheoun

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  • #5
    I preordered the Ultimate edition as soon as it was announced. My thoughts were this:
    1. There is 0 chance that I would have NOT bought the game, no matter what day 1 reviews say. Call me a glutton for punishment, but I played games like Cyberpunk, FO76, NMS, Anthem, etc, on launch and enjoyed them all.
    2. I'm a "separate the art from the artist" kind of guy. I'll judge the game on its' own merits, Blizzard execs being pieces of shit is a problem to be settled outside of my gaming PC.
    3. They've already promised an acceptable level of monetization, on PoE levels, which I'm already fine with. Eventually, that might change for the worse, but I'll take that as it comes.
    4. The "Early Access" is a big deal for me, as it gives me an excuse to take time off work and "go hard" on weekdays when I don't have my kids.
    5. I would have spent the $90 anyway on the base game plus the battle pass. I budget about that much into PoE leagues for microtransactions, and would do the same for D4. Might as well get freebies.
    I don't know how good the game will be, how much staying power it will have, etc. But I really really don't want the IP to die, so I'm willing to look past Immortal.

    As for seasonal content, I'm going to assume a cross between the D3 model and Path of Exile. Probably larger seasons than D3, like PoE does, and maybe periodic larger expansions or DLC classes like D3 had. I don't think any of the "seasons" will cost money outside of the optional premium battle pass stuff.

    All that aside though, I'm looking forward to the game. Hope it's deep enough to sink a good amount of time into on a regular basis.
     
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    Mortus

    Mortus

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  • #6
    Apotheoun said:
    They've already promised an acceptable level of monetization, on PoE levels, which I'm already fine with. Eventually, that might change for the worse, but I'll take that as it comes.
    Click to expand...

    That's the main thing that's causing me discomfort. PoE is a free game. You can play the entire game without paying in a single cent. Diablo 4 is a full priced AAA game that is then further monetizing itself as a GaaS.

    Now I can freely admit that this model has gotten me in the past. Be it Dota 2, Rocket League, or Hunt: Showdown (only the first of the 3 another free to play), I've often bought DLC and battle passes. Which I know is absurd since I utilize maybe 5-10% of the cosmetics that I've received from those. But none of these games have had a $70 barrier to entry, unlike this one. And after Immortal's absurd gouging, I just can't bank on ActiBlizzard to not continue to find new and innovative ways to separate consumers from their money.

    I'm not going to pre-order this game. I may not even play it when it first releases. It's going to have to make waves for me to want to dedicate time to it. I'm going to wait to see just what their seasonal offerings actually entail before considering jumping in. Because if the seasons are as uninspired as the ones in D3 are, then I can't justify the purchase, because I will only get maybe two playthroughs before shelving it indefinitely.
     
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    Semi On

    Semi On

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  • #7
    I like to play Diablo games for the story and ambiance and have never bought into the grind for loot. As such, I have little to no need for anything beyond the base game. There are also a bunch of games coming out this year so I see no reason to jump into this convoluted business model early. I'll wait for all the wailing and gnashing of teeth to work itself out then grab a copy, probably on sale, after I've beaten Starfield, Baldur's Gate 3, Dragon Age 4, etc.
     
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    Ed209

    Ed209

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  • #9
    Semi On said:
    I like to play Diablo games for the story and ambiance and have never bought into the grind for loot.
    Click to expand...

    Yeah, pretty much this. I bought Diablo III when it came out and played through it once. It was alright, but never really felt the motivation to re-play it even with a new build. I bounced off of Immortal pretty hard, it just seemed like a grind. I may end up picking it up at some point, but definitely, at the very least, waiting for the reviews to come in. Which is sort of unfortunate... there was a point where anything from Blizzard would be an auto-buy for me.
     
    skazz

    skazz

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  • #11
    Apotheoun said:
    I preordered the Ultimate edition as soon as it was announced. My thoughts were this:
    1. There is 0 chance that I would have NOT bought the game, no matter what day 1 reviews say. Call me a glutton for punishment, but I played games like Cyberpunk, FO76, NMS, Anthem, etc, on launch and enjoyed them all.
    2. I'm a "separate the art from the artist" kind of guy. I'll judge the game on its' own merits, Blizzard execs being pieces of shit is a problem to be settled outside of my gaming PC.
    3. They've already promised an acceptable level of monetization, on PoE levels, which I'm already fine with. Eventually, that might change for the worse, but I'll take that as it comes.
    4. The "Early Access" is a big deal for me, as it gives me an excuse to take time off work and "go hard" on weekdays when I don't have my kids.
    5. I would have spent the $90 anyway on the base game plus the battle pass. I budget about that much into PoE leagues for microtransactions, and would do the same for D4. Might as well get freebies.
    I don't know how good the game will be, how much staying power it will have, etc. But I really really don't want the IP to die, so I'm willing to look past Immortal.

    As for seasonal content, I'm going to assume a cross between the D3 model and Path of Exile. Probably larger seasons than D3, like PoE does, and maybe periodic larger expansions or DLC classes like D3 had. I don't think any of the "seasons" will cost money outside of the optional premium battle pass stuff.

    All that aside though, I'm looking forward to the game. Hope it's deep enough to sink a good amount of time into on a regular basis.
    Click to expand...
    I'm in a similar boat: My Diablo 3 play time is well over 1500 hours so I know I will be buying it, especially after feedback from closed betas. So I went all in with the Ultimate Edition even though I hate the idea of a Battle Pass.

    I bought into Diablo 3 after they removed the terrible real money auction house (and fixed drop rates so that such a thing wouldn't have been relevant in the first place), so I only heard about that deep pit of predatory monetization. Furthermore Diablo Immortal is banned here so I literally cannot even try it (my wallet can only thank them for this).

    However for some reason I became a sucker buying in to this new Diablo 4 monetization model without even waiting to see. Not very smart of me :)
     
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    krimhorn

    krimhorn

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  • #15
    I'll definitely play it. When it hits GamePass in 3-4 years with everything available to me for one low price of "I already got my $15 worth this month". I've never been a big Diablo person and there's still only one of the games that I've played through more than once: the OG Diablo. It's actually short, sweet and to the point so it doesn't outstay its welcome.
     
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    Case

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  • #17
    I put in a staggering amount of hours with D2X and not so much with D3...the game just didn't grab me as much. It did have a great couch coop mode on the console, I'll give it that. And as I age I don't get into gaming quite as much, or at least I do for shorter stretches of time.

    Because of these gaming hiatuses, and having an older and never top-of-the-line machine I tend to buy games that are several years old. Fallout 4 was a recent purchase :D I also have shifted a way a bit from action RPGs....while I enjoyed POE and Grim Dawn and Torchlight, I lose interest vs games like Valheim and RPGs these days.

    Elden Ring was a rare full-price purchase but still well after launch. I never played Souls games but watched enough streams and reviews to know I'd enjoy it.

    Blizzard being a bunch of asshats in recent years is one reason I'll wait. Not really liking D3 that much is another. Seeing these monetizations is yet another. This is looking like a "wait until it's 10 bucks" game in every way and only if it has good reviews.
     
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    hambone

    hambone

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  • #18
    The fairly obscene monetizationof Diablo Mobile, and the 12 straight years of financially milking totally derivative gameplay in WoW, gives me little hope that D4 will bear witness to any kind of resurrection of compelling new gameplay.

    I'm not a presumptive hater but since about 2015 I can't look at any Actizzard product without a huge dose of "wait and see, then actually wait a bit more and see" skepticism.
     
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    tritriagain

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  • #24
    I will probably get it. Just not sure which version yet and if I can remember to preorder it. I suffer from CRS.
    I did not experience the seasons with D3. I finished the original game in a weekend and didn't pick it up again until recently. Are the battle pass rewards only cosmetics?
    With Immortal we get some equipment, gems, and such that can be used in the game to enhance your character.
     
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    richleader

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  • #26
    I'm on the fence. A lot of the draw of Diablos has always been that initial experimentation wave before guides are out and there's a meta. It's pick a character and hope the movement breaker lets you get to end game content and farm without getting wrecked.

    OTOH, DS3 petered out fast for me (I quit before the expansion came out) and the only games I spend $60 in the past near-decade have been Souls titles.
     
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    CanonicalAbstract

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  • #27
    So, my perspective:

    I'm currently going through Diablo 3 on the Playstation, merely because I'm challenging myself to Platinum the game. I've enjoyed Diablo 1 and 2 immensely on the PC, and then Diablo 3 on the PS3 to a certain extent. Now with 3 and the expansions on my PS5 (and it's a PS4 game, mind you), I find constant playability to keep me going. Right now my goal is Platinum by the time Diablo 4 is released, and I'm 54% there.

    And that segues into Diablo 4: I did pre-order for the PS5. I went with the Standard Edition. I won't participate in the Battle Pass / Seasons part of the game, and will probably concentrate on playing the different classes, and seeing what trophies I can get out of the game. I didn't really participate int the Seasons in Diablo 3 anyways, they don't really enthuse me much. And not to mention, I am not truly a fan of paying per month for a game these days (I did some massive time into WoW, EverQuest, and Dark Age of Camelot back in the day, and still do dabble in the freebie WoW when the mood strikes).

    I am very much looking forward to Diablo 4 when it comes out though. I'm definitely looking forward to seeing if I can create a pretty badass Barbarian this time around too :biggreen:
     
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    DaveSimmons

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  • #28
    So many games end up as nightmare bugfests these days that I refuse to pre-order anything. My approach: Wait for release, wait for real-user and post-release reviews, then decide whether to buy now, or get the patched version in 6-12 months for less money.

    I might waver on this for Fallout 5 next decade if there are some pre-order bonuses that I decide I can't live without.
     
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    cblais19

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  • #30
    The blurb on season stuff sounds exactly like how games like Destiny 2 handle it these days. Pay $50 for an expansion, which has a year of being the “current meta.” This is broken into 4 seasons, split into a paid and free layer. Free gets you some resetting Progression and unlocks limited seasonal items. Paid gets you more stuff along the progression track, plus seasonal story content and rotating new activities/quests.
     
    wireframed

    wireframed

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  • #33
    D3 held little interest for me. It seemed to lose the dark ambience of Diablo, it wasn’t very challenging and the game mechanics just added more and more stuff to grind. The story also seemed more convoluted and less interesting than D1 and D2.

    I hope D4 returns to a more D2-like experience. It certainly looks more dark and twisted which is positive. I’ll play through, but if it’s like D3, I probably won’t spend Diablo2 amount of hours. (I’m afraid to know how many hours I spent on Diablo 2 and Diablo2 Resurrected combined, but it’s waay too many!)
     
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    Incarnate

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  • #38
    Apotheoun said:
    I preordered the Ultimate edition as soon as it was announced. My thoughts were this:
    1. There is 0 chance that I would have NOT bought the game, no matter what day 1 reviews say. Call me a glutton for punishment, but I played games like Cyberpunk, FO76, NMS, Anthem, etc, on launch and enjoyed them all.
    Click to expand...
    You got me - Same here. 0 chance that I wouldn't buy, so might as well pre-order to be able to play in the beta. I'm only getting the Standard edition. I won't ever spend another penny on other content here. Never did on Overwatch either.
     
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    Exordium01

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  • #39
    thrillhouse said:
    The diablo franchise may be the one I've spent the most time with....but there's no fucking way I'm paying full price for a AAA game, then paying again on a recurring basis to get the full experience.

    The greed is disgusting.
    Click to expand...
    I probably wasn't going to get it before the BattlePass got announced, but paying for seasons makes it a hard pass.

    I played a ton of Diablo when it came out and played Diablo 2 on and off for close to a decade. Diablo 3 sucked at launch but I thought they managed to salvage it. I don't think I'll ever buy an activision/blizzard game again.
     
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    tiz^

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  • #40
    Nitestorm said:
    D3 was alright for me, but I haven't played it in years. I'm kind of on the fence, but at the same time I'm not too fond of Blizzard anymore. Maybe the MS acquisition might change things, who knows.
    Click to expand...
    And from the ashes he rises again... I look forward to seeing you in D4, Nite. It's been too long.

    I am purchasing the ultimate edition to avoid fomo. $30 is a 4-pack of my favorite beer. I'll survive. I'd rather learn early whether these passes are or aren't worth the added cost.
     
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